[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 26, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4360-4361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01475]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Docket No. FRA 2016-0002-N-2]

Federal Railroad Administration


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 
and its implementing regulations, FRA is seeking an extension of the 
following currently approved information collection. On December 28, 
2015, FRA published a Notice in the Federal Register stating that FRA 
was submitting an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for new Form FRA F 6180.164, Positive Train 
Control Implementation Plan (PTCIP) Template, under the PRA Emergency 
Processing procedures. See 80 FR 80876. On January 6, 2016, OMB granted 
FRA's request for Emergency Processing approval for a period of 180 
days. FRA now seeks a Regular clearance (extension of the current 
approval from 180 days to three years) to continue this effort to 
assist railroads in submitting revised PTCIPs to FRA as Congress 
mandated under amendments to 49 U.S.C. 20157. Before submitting the ICR 
requirements for OMB clearance, FRA is soliciting public comment on 
specific aspects of the ICR, as identified below.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than March 28, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on any or all of the following 
proposed activities by mail to either: Mr. Robert Brogan, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, Office of Safety, Planning and Evaluation 
Division, RRS-21, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 
SE., Mail Stop 17, Washington, DC 20590, or Ms. Kimberly Toone, 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Office of Information 
Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey 
Ave. SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590. Commenters requesting FRA 
to acknowledge receipt of their respective comments must include a 
self-addressed stamped postcard stating, ``Comments on OMB control 
number 2130-0553.'' Alternatively, comments may be transmitted via 
facsimile to (202) 493-6216 or (202) 493-6497, or via email to Mr. 
Brogan at [email protected], or to Ms. Toone at [email protected].

[[Page 4361]]

Please refer to the assigned OMB control number in any correspondence 
submitted. FRA will summarize comments received in response to this 
notice in a subsequent notice and include them in its information 
collection submission to OMB for approval.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Brogan, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, Office of Planning and Evaluation 
Division, RRS-21, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 
SE., Mail Stop 17, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: (202) 493-6292) or 
Ms. Kimberly Toone, Information Collection Clearance Officer, Office of 
Information Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 
(202) 493-6132). (These telephone numbers are not toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PRA, Public Law 104-13, sec. 2, 109 
Stat. 163 (1995) (codified as revised at 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), and its 
implementing regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, require federal agencies to 
provide 60-days' notice to the public for comment on information 
collection activities before seeking approval for reinstatement or 
renewal by OMB. 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A); 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), 
1320.10(e)(1), 1320.12(a). Specifically, FRA invites interested 
respondents to comment on the following summary of proposed information 
collection activities regarding: (1) Whether the information collection 
activities are necessary for FRA to properly execute its functions, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the 
accuracy of FRA's estimates of the burden of the information collection 
activities, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used to determine the estimates; (3) ways for FRA to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and 
(4) ways for FRA to minimize the burden of information collection 
activities on the public by automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology (e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses). See 
44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)(i)-(iv); 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1)(i)-(iv). FRA 
believes that soliciting public comment will promote its efforts to 
reduce the administrative and paperwork burdens associated with this 
voluntary collection of information. In summary, FRA believes that 
comments received will advance three objectives: (1) Reduce reporting 
burdens; (2) ensure that FRA organizes information collection 
requirements in a ``user-friendly'' format to improve the use of such 
information; and (3) accurately assess the resources expended to 
retrieve and produce the information requested. See 44 U.S.C. 3501.
    Below is a brief summary of the currently approved information 
collection activity FRA will submit for clearance by OMB as required 
under the PRA:
    Title: Positive Train Control.
    OMB Control Number: 2130-0553.
    Abstract: The recently enacted Positive Train Control Enforcement 
and Implementation (PTCEI) Act of 2015 and the Fixing America's Surface 
Transportation (FAST) Act (collectively, the ``Acts'') amend certain 
portions of 49 U.S.C. 20157 relating to positive train control (PTC) 
system implementation. See Public Law 114-73, 129 Stat. 568, 576-82 
(Oct. 29, 2015); Public Law 114-94, sec. 11315(d), 129 Stat. 1312, 1675 
(Dec. 4, 2015). Most notably, the provisions within these Acts extend 
the implementation deadline originally established by the Rail Safety 
Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) and require covered railroads and 
entities to each submit a revised PTC Implementation Plan (PTCIP) with 
additional information to meet its new deadline.
    FRA is proposing to provide a PTCIP template to assist each 
railroad with complying with the new law's requirement to submit a 
revised PTCIP to FRA. More specifically, each railroad may voluntarily 
opt to use FRA's proposed template to concisely organize and present 
certain quantitative (i.e., measurable) data about its PTC 
implementation efforts and its projected timeframe for completing PTC 
implementation. Although some of this information may have been 
provided by each railroad in the past, the Acts now require submission 
of specific measurable data as part of each railroad's revised PTCIP. 
The quantitative information includes:
     The calendar year(s) when wireless spectrum required for 
PTC operation will be acquired and available for use;
     The total amount of PTC hardware the railroad must install 
(broken down by each major hardware category);
     The total amount of PTC hardware the railroad will install 
by the end of each calendar year (broken down by each major hardware 
category);
     The total number of employees the railroad must train; and
     The total number of employees that will receive training 
by the end of each calendar year.
    FRA believes that providing an optional template will serve as 
guidance to railroads by reducing confusion about the necessary level 
of detail required for the quantitative requirements. Furthermore, the 
optional template will help to expedite submitting this information to 
FRA and FRA's review for statutory and regulatory compliance, 
particularly for those railroads that may not have been tracking these 
details previously. FRA has provided the template on its Web site for 
use by all interested parties at https://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L17235.
    Affected Public: Businesses.
    Frequency of Submission: On occasion.
    Respondent Universe: Approximately 38 railroads.
    Reporting Burden:

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                                                                                  Average time
          PTCIP template             Respondent universe      Total annual        per response     Total annual
                                                                responses           (hours)        burden hours
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Form FRA F 6180.164...............  38 Railroads........  38 Forms............              50            1,900
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    Form Number(s): FRA F 6180.164.
    Total Estimated Responses: 38.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden: 1,900 hours.
    Status: Regular Review.
    Under 44 U.S.C. 3507(a) and 5 CFR 1320.5(b), 1320.8(b)(3)(vi), FRA 
informs all interested parties that it may not conduct or sponsor, and 
a respondent is not required to respond to, a collection of information 
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2016.
Corey Hill,
Acting Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 2016-01475 Filed 1-25-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P